Little Things
by Blau
Summary: Kaoru gets a job. Coincidentally, it's at the same place Ryou works. HasEnd RyouxKaoru


Ryou, for the most part, liked his job. It paid well enough for him and wasn't that hard. Restocking shelves didn't take much brain power to do, to be honest; all one had to do was reach into the box full of whatever needed to be put on the shelves, put said item onto said shelf, and repeat the process until shelf was either full or the box was empty. It was easy, but time consuming. And while he usually did have someone helping him with it, Ryou preferred working alone; his coworker would usually chatter about inane things, oblivious to the fact that Ryou could care less about whom was dating whom or that the manager was getting remarried. Keep personal lives out of the work place, that's what Ryou always thought. And yeah, it did make him somewhat unapproachable by his coworkers, most of which were either his age or older but all friendly, talkative people. But that was okay. Misaki Ryou was too busy to be making friends with the people he worked with. Between visiting Shino in the hospital, schoolwork, and The World, he really didn't have enough time to be socializing with people he barely knew. Or care to know.

Fortunately, today had been a relatively good day. Not too much homework, meaning Ryou might actually spend time to do it. His daily hospital visit had gone as it usually did. And he was working alone tonight.

All in all, Ryou was in a Good Mood. Him being in a Good Mood was so rare that capitalizations were necessary. Because, sure, he had been in plenty of 'okay moods.' He'd been in 'decent moods.' But an actual Good Mood? That only happened when a member of Kestrel renounced their PKing ways and joined Moon Tree. Obviously, he wasn't in a Good Mood very often.

"Misaki-kun! Misaki-kun!"

And, apparently, he wasn't in a Good Mood for very long.

Turning to look up at the girl who had spoken (what exactly was her name? Mini? Mimi? Mimzy? in any case, she'd been working at the grocery store longer than Ryou), Ryou blinked. Trailing behind his coworker was a very tall blond man, late teens or early twenties Ryou would guess. Unsure of whether or not he was supposed to stand, he was saved when the girl spoke.

"This is Ichinose Kaoru," she introduced, gesturing to the man as if Ryou would get confused as to who she was introducing. After all, it was quite possible; there were only three people in the aisle. "Ichinose-kun, this is Misaki Ryou." To Ryou, she said, "Today is his first day. I was hoping you could help him learn the ropes."

Shifting his gaze from the girl - Mina, his mind supplied, her name was Mina - to 'Ichinose Kaoru', he saw that the older man did indeed have the work uniform on; khaki slacks and a red shirt. Clipped onto the slacks' pockets was Ichinose's work ID.

Figuring he might as well say something, he straightened and dusted his hands off.

"That's fine," he said, though it wasn't, not really. He'd have to babysit, and there would go his alone time at work. Still, he had to be polite. Raising a hand, he rubbed the back of his neck. "Nice to meet you, I guess."

It was then that Mina smiled at Ryou before turning and leaving the aisle. It was as she turned and disappeared from view that Ryou realized Ichinose hadn't said anything. In fact, Ryou observed, Ichinose was looking at him like he had grown a second head.

"Uh, are you okay?" Ryou asked, cocking his head slightly.

"H-haseo?" asked Ichinose, eyes wide.

Ryou furrowed his brows, recognizing the voice immediately. "Endrance?"

Ichinose smiled, moving forward and embracing Ryou before the younger boy realized what was happening.

"Oh, Haseo... To think that we would meet like this and find that we are to be working together..." Endr- no, Ichinose, they were in the real world now, said. "It must be fate."

"Uh... yeah," Ryou said, squirming out of Ichinose's hold. Under the fluorescent light, his blush seemed that more obvious. Hoping to divert Ichinose's attention from hugging Ryou to just conversing, Ryou said, "I didn't know you were getting a job."

"Mother... said I was spending too much time on the computer," Ichinose said, frowning a little. Almost immediately he perked up. "I don't mind now, of course. I'll assist you the best that I can, Haseo!"

"Misaki," Ryou corrected, crouching down to begin restocking again. Picking up a box of curry, he resumed shelving.

"That seems so... distant," Ichinose complained, moving the box back so he could sit next to Ryou. "Like we're strangers." He frowned again, doing that... thing! he did online, leaning back as if anticipating that Ryou was going to say something harsh. It only made Ryou actually _think_ before he said or did anything, though, and usually Ryou went along with what Ichinose said.

"Ryou then," he conceded, shifting so he'd be able to access the boxes of curry easier. He picked another box up and added it to the shelf. Beside him, Ichinose mimicked his movements, picking up a box of curry and placing it right next to the one Ryou had just shelved. The two fell into a companionable silence, their fingers brushing every so often when they reached for the same box; Ryou would blush and let Ichinose take the box, while the blond would smile at "his shy little Ryou."

Eventually, they begin talking. Nothing too big, just small talk. About what Ichinose's home was like, and what Ryou was doing in school at the moment. Minor things that didn't really make a difference. Minor things that made Ryou think for a moment that he and Ichinose weren't Epitaph Users, that they weren't "super heroes" of a world that didn't exist, not really, despite what Atoli said.

It was the little things that could bring him down, and it was the little things that could bring his Good Mood back.

* * *

Wrote it awhile ago for the HaseoxEndrance community on LiveJournal. Just now got around to posting it. 


End file.
